First Night
by patricia51
Summary: Follow up to "Between One Moment and the Next". Safely aboard the Arcadia Alice and Claire go beyond letting just their eyes do their connecting. Femslash. Rated M.


First Night by patricia51

(Follow up to "Between One Moment and the Next". Safely aboard the Arcadia Alice and Claire go beyond letting just their eyes do their connecting. Femslash. Rated M.

Note: The final scene of "Afterlife" makes no sense at all except for its cheesy lead-in for "Retribution". The attack of the Umbrella strike force under the command of a mind controlled Jill Valentine, I mean really. It was a fancy version of the final scene from any horror story where we see a flash of the creature and it's still alive just before "The End?" pops up. Crap. Did Wesker summon them? If so then he just what, decided to blow up the Arcadia and all his people? If he didn't than how did they know to show up just then and how did Jill know that Alice, Claire and Chris were on board? Therefore as far as I'm concerned it didn't happen.

Oh, and I liked Crystal and thought someone needed to be around for Chris. So there.)

"If you are out there we will help you." Alice smiled as she continued to speak into the microphone. "There is hope."

The foursome on the bridge of the ship Arcadia looked at each other.

"What now?" asked Claire Redfield.

"We need to get organized," replied her brother Chris thoughtfully.

"Two thousand survivors," remarked Alice. She looked out the bridge windows at the white-clad figures roaming around on the deck. "I wonder if there's someone on board who can run this ship. Because I certainly can't."

"There's a lot to do," added the fourth person, Crystal Waters. Her recent experience as the cook for the minute LA survivors' group led her thoughts. "I bet there's not enough food on board to feed all these people for any length of time at all."

"We need a crew, we need supplies and most of all we need a destination," Alice summed up the situation. Heads nodded. "Well, if we don't get started we won't get anything done."

Hours later even Alice was weary. But a lot more than "anything" had been done. It turned out that the survivors on board represented a wide range of pre-apocalypse occupations and skills. On top of that the survivors were just that, survivors. They were physically and mentally tough and every last one of them was pissed at Umbrella both for getting the drop on them and just for general principles.

The ship now had an actual crew, both ship handlers and engine room personnel. A food service crew had been rounded up and a supply office established. A vote had been conducted and Alice, Claire and Chris had now been joined by the new Ship's Captain and several other responsible and intelligent people all of whom formed a formal council that would run things.

Using her knowledge of Umbrella security protocols Alice had found and disabled locator beacons on the ship and on the VTOL aircraft still on board. The ship had turned south. A rescued Luther West, who had also been elected to the Council, had told of seeing a parachute blossom from the exploding fireball of Wesker's escape aircraft.

"He's like some damn cockroach," Alice had muttered when presented with the news.

"Yes, but this leaves him out of touch with Umbrella. Even corporate stooges are no doubt scared of what he's become since I'm sure the crew spread the word through Umbrella's commo net," Chris observed. "Remember him telling you that the satellite network was still functioning. I bet there are half-a-dozen different people trying to take over leadership with him out in the wilds."

"So we do the best 'Get out of Dodge' maneuver that we can while things are still in chaos," Claire had proposed and the Council had agreed. The final destination had not yet been decided on but the consensus was the farther they got away from Tokyo and the West Coast of North America the better.

Sleeping arrangements had been harder to set up but it had been done. Alice had to admit that she should have felt guilty about a room in the crew's quarters with a real bed as opposed to the improvised mattresses most everyone was sleeping on but she didn't. Now she was looking for to nothing more than a shower with HOT water and the chance to fall into that bed.

Water rationing dictated that it still wouldn't be the kind of shower she wanted; a long steaming one with shampoo and softly scented soap and someone to scrub her back. She even had that someone picked out. An image of a certain shapely body appeared in her mind with blue eyes looking at her as the water cascaded over it and red hair hung down over her breasts.

Alice nearly groaned aloud in frustration. Not only had she caught only glimpses of Claire all day long the speed the shower at which would need to be taken precluded even her closing her eyes and having a fantasy of making love to the other woman while she released her built up tensions with her own fingers.

Well no sense grumbling over things that can't be changed the former Umbrella security officer reminded herself. She hopped into the tiny cubicle, noting that while it would make two people get very, very close to each other they might not be able to do anything, and turned on the water. She wet down all over, turned the water off and frantically soaped herself all over. Then the water was back on and she rinsed herself off. The water rationing was on the honor system and she would abide by it but the old field shower trick she used gave her precious seconds to let the hot water beat down on her face and back.

Sighing but still feeling better than she had in quite a while she shut the water off and fumbled for the towel she had put on the rack over the shower head. She wrung her hair out; glad that it was short enough still she didn't need to spend much time with it and then dried off before wrapping the towel around her. She cracked the door, reluctant to leave the steam still filling the cubicle. Then her body tensed as she heard a buzzing sound coming from the main room.

Thoughts cascaded through her mind, even as she sought to remember where she had heard that sound before. Had an Umbrella crewman remained aboard in hiding somewhere? Were there other creatures deformed by Wesker's mad desires stalking the halls? And what the hell WAS that sound? The faint memories it seemed to be stirring had no overtones of anything except old times without fear.

Realizing she was never going to find out standing in here Alice flung the door open and sprang from the shower. And she stopped dead in her tracks. For what she saw was nothing to be afraid of. It was a dream come true. For sitting on her bed, apparently wearing only a towel herself, Claire Redfield was using a blow dryer on her hair.

Alice stood still and drank in the vision of the other woman. She was gorgeous. Claire's legs were crossed at the ankle and the towel barely covered the tops of her thighs. A slight sag of that towel displayed the swell of her breasts.

Alice had always thought of Claire as strong, confident, able and many other things. But as the other woman tossed her red-hair as she shifted the blow dryer from one side to the other Alice finally realized just how incredibly sensual and womanly Claire was.

For just a moment Alice recalled the loss of another tough, capable woman that she had hoped she might explore an attraction with. But Rain Ocampo was long gone and Claire Redfield was right in front of her and was everything the other woman had been and perhaps evens more.

Claire paused in her actions and the shut off the hair dryer. She gave Alice a quizzical look and lifted an eyebrow. When neither broke the silence between them at first the red-head cleared her throat.

"Alice, you dropped your towel."

The dark-haired woman simply nodded. "I thought you were staying with Chris."

"As much as I want to catch up with my brother tonight I have other plans. Besides," a grin tugged at the corners of Claire's mouth. "He has other Company tonight."

"Crystal?"

"Uh-huh. She's really taken with him."

"Well he did save her life," Alice pointed out as she recalled Claire's brother spinning around in time to nail two of the mutant zombies just before they grabbed the former high school swim champion as the three of them went after the submerged armory. "That will tend to start things off on the right foot."

"Now that the memories are starting to come back I recall my brother as a pretty terrific guy. But she certainly didn't hesitate to show that she was going to stick close to him."

Alice nodded. "Chris goes 'I'll take point' and before Luther could even get his mouth open Crystal said 'I've got your back' and dropped into that hole after him."

"So she's with him tonight and so is K-Mart who is already looking up to him with nearly the same awe she looks up to you with."

"And you," interjected Alice.

Claire shrugged in agreement. "And there's some other teen that was held captive here that K-mart managed to make friends with already. So that room would be full anyway and I really wonder something."

"What?"

"Aren't you getting cold standing there like that?"

Alice nearly blushed and then nearly burst out with laughter as she realized she had indeed been standing nude in the room for the last several minutes. On stead she shook her head.

"In fact instead of being cold it seems rather warm in here."

"So it does," agreed Claire as she came to her feet in a movement so gracefully it nearly took Alice's breath away. Then that breath was completely swept away as the red-head gave a little tug and her towel pooled at her feet, leaving her in exactly the same outfit that Alice herself was in. Nothing at all.

"My God you're beautiful," Alice whispered.

"I think you're the beautiful one but I certainly love hearing you talk like that."

They stood still for a moment, drinking each other in.

"This has been coming for such a long time," said Claire. "I'm not even sure when I started falling in love with you. It didn't happen all of a sudden. It was a feeling that grew and grew, passing from uncertainty to admiration to friendship and then beyond. It might not have even registered completely until you looked into my eyes on the bridge of the ship today. But I love you Alice Abernathy."

"I love you too Claire Redfield."

It was only two steps and they were in each others' arms. But rather than unleashing the desire that shone brightly in both their eyes their movements were almost tentative. Claire touched Alice's face with her fingertips, gently stroking her cheek. Her forefinger traced the outline of the slightly parted lips.

Alice took Claire's hand in her own and kissed the fingers that had been against her skin. She continued on to the palm and then began to kiss up the inside of Claire's arm. The other woman gasped softly. Her free hand stroked Alice s short dark hair. Then as Alice kissed farther up Claire's fingers wandered down. Lips reached a bare shoulder and then a graceful neck. They settled on a throbbing pulse point and tightened on the skin there. The exploring hand cupped a firm breast, two fingers gripping the hard dark nipple between them. They squeezed and Alice let out a muffled groan.

Released from Alice's hungry lips now, Claire's other arm circled the other woman. Fingers curled and drug gently down until they settled in the small of Alice's back. Alice responded by wrapping both arms around Claire. The two women pulled each other in until their bodies molded together as one.

Alice lifted her head. Her lips sought Claire's. They touched and parted slightly, plucking at each other. At first the kisses were soft, slow, even hesitant. A just arrived observer would have never known the two women had just declared their love for each other. But then the self-imposed restraint the two tough survivors had maintained was swept away and the passion that had built between them was released in an instant.

Mouths locked. Tongues dueled, tasting the sweetness of each other. Four tight arms refused to release a fraction of an inch as the pair of lovers reeled towards the bunk built against the wall. For an instant they teetered when they reached it and then they toppled on to it.

Facing each other on their sides the frantic kissing never slowed. Claire fastened one hand on the back of Alice's neck and the other on her firm rounded bottom. The other woman's hands were flat on the red-head's shoulder blades, keeping her pulled in. Four breasts tipped with hard nipples crushed together. Legs parted. Smooth thighs that were no less shapely for the strength they possessed jammed between legs, hooking around each other. With the added leverage gained those thighs ground back and forth into the other woman's wetness with such speed and force that for a moment Alice thought they might catch fire.

Fourteen months of growing and then pent-up longing released itself. Both women shuddered as their orgasms built and ground harder and harder against each other. The world had finally narrowed down to just the two of them as it had meant to be for so long. Hands dug in, clutching each other. Wetness slid, one to the other, mingling into an intoxicating perfume that the heat of their bodies floated all around them until it filled the cabin with their scent.

Claire's head fell back as she tried to muffle a cry, an attempt that was only partially successful. Alice took the opportunity to lower her head and engulf one of Claire's breasts with her mouth. The red head arched, pushing her achingly hard nipple into Alice's warm, wet mouth. She grabbed the other woman's bottom with both hands. Her hips bucked as she thrust herself into her long desired lover.

The slight corner of Alice's mind that remained rational knew the explosion was almost there. The feel, the taste, of Claire's body would have overwhelmed her anyway even without the things the other woman was doing to her. It was all more than she could hold back from. She released Claire's breast just in time to recapture the other woman's mouth just as the tide swept her away to a world that was all jagged lightning and sweet clouds.

Alice's release triggered Claire's response. The former convoy leader flailed wildly, nearly falling off the narrow bunk. Just in time she safely rolled on her back, pulling the dark-haired woman on top of her as she shuddered her way to an orgasm that was no less intense for being the one she had fantasized about for over a year.

Exhausted by the events of the day and coupled with the passion of their making love the pair of women only squirmed slightly to a more comfortable position. Sleepy kisses were exchanged as they snuggled together and dropped off into a shared slumber that was punctuated for both with sweet dreams of the future.

Even their razor senses, honed by the battle to survive didn't alert them when a blonde teenager tip-toed into their cabin to cover them with a blanket. K-Mart smiled at the two most important women in her life.

"About time," she whispered as she slipped from the cabin.

(The End)

(I am certainly NOT done with this couple but I'm reluctant to start any multi-chapter stories at this time as I have one running and will start posting another one soon. So for now at least I just plan on writing little one-shots.)


End file.
